


Separate Vacations

by lesyeuxverts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-14 07:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1257772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesyeuxverts/pseuds/lesyeuxverts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a moment of silence after Severus opened the last present – a long, thin box just the right size for phoenix feathers or unicorn horn or any of a number of other potions ingredients – and found a pair of sunglasses resting on the white tissue paper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Separate Vacations

There was a moment of silence after Severus opened the last present – a long, thin box just the right size for phoenix feathers or unicorn horn or any of a number of other potions ingredients – and found a pair of sunglasses resting on the white tissue paper.  
  
He stared at the present as though it was a mewling, plaintive kitten, and snapped the box shut. "No," he said, "absolutely not."  
  
Harry reached for his hand, already protesting and trying to soothe him, but Severus jerked away.  
  
"What part of no do you not understand?  
  
"But then, you've never understood the word – never understood that it applies to you as well as to the rest of us lesser mortals. Perhaps no one else is willing to say no to you, Potter, but I hold no such scruples."  
  
"Severus, I thought –"  
  
"You thought you'd give me a wonderful Christmas present," Severus said.  
  
"Something truly practical and useful," he added when Harry nodded. "Something that _you_ really wanted."  
  
Severus thrust the box at Harry, jabbing it into his chest and letting it drop to his feet. "Go on the cruise, then," he said. "Take one of your vapid, useless admirers along – choose one that is too dense to notice that a relationship with Harry Potter is all about what Potter needs and wants, and never about them."  
  
With a crack, Severus Disapparated from the Burrow, slicing through the wards like tissue paper and leaving Potter alone with his wretched Weasleys.  
  
\----  
  
Potter, having finally learned how to obey orders, went on the ridiculous sunny cruise. Severus had no interest in following his progress, but with the _Daily Prophet_ plastered everywhere, it was impossible to miss all the photos of a smiling, tanned Potter. He had a different girl on his arm each day, and Severus's aim with _Incendio_ improved.   
  
The Weasleys persisted in disturbing his solitude with attempts to Floo call him, Apparate through his wards, and knock on his door. He strengthened his wards and he stopped accepting owl deliveries from them after Molly Weasley's first Howler. He threw the yowling, strident thing on Harry's favourite chair just before it burst into flames, letting the upholstery smoke until the original Gryffindor colors were unrecognizable.   
  
Potter's letters accumulated, a pyramid of unopened scrolls piled up on the breakfast table. Hedwig had brought them at first, and as the cruise ship moved further away, large colorful birds from the tropics took her place, perching on the back of Harry's old chair and dipping their beaks into Severus's sweetened tea. He added the letters they bore to the growing pile, fed them and sent them winging away, their feathers silhouetted against the morning sun.   
  
He'd closed his apothecary in the meantime – it was mobbed by reporters and the curious, all of them seeking to suck the marrow out of his "heartbreak" and reap a profit from his jilting. The media drew his customers away, knocked over precious potions, and made it impossible for Severus to operate his shop.   
  
He moved down to the basement potions lab instead, Scourgifying every trace of Harry from it and turning his attention to his research. He sent potions out by owl order, earning enough Galleons to fill the pantry and stock his store cupboards. He filled his days and his stomach, and it was enough.  
  
\----  
  
Bronzed and fit, Harry returned soon enough to plague Severus's life. The daily letter turned into a storm of correspondence, the owls pelting his residence with their downy feathers and unwanted scrolls. The pyramid spilled over, covering the entire table, and Severus warded his home against owls.  
  
Potter was a glutton for rejection, showing up on Severus's doorstep an hour after the wards had been finished. He pounded on the door until Severus was forced to cast a local silencing spell, and at length, he forced his way through the wards.  
  
"Severus," he said, standing at a cautious distance from the bubbling cauldron between them. "How long are you going to keep this up?"  
  
"As long as it takes to drive the point through your thick skull." Severus reached back on the shelf to take down the mung beans, adding a handful to the potion and wafting the resultant foul smoke over onto Potter.  
  
"If you'd ever given me half a chance to explain ..."  
  
"Get out of my lab."  
  
"Snape, don't be a fool. I know you're not happy without me, and –"  
  
"Perfect Potter, convinced of his own importance still. Do you bask in the adulation of your mindless fans, or is that not enough for you? Do you charm your mirrors to praise you?"  
  
Potter strode through the cloud of noxious smoke, standing in front of Severus and putting a hand over his mouth. "And I'm not happy without you, either. Give us a second chance, Severus."  
  
"Get out." He Petrified Potter and levitated him through the air to the door, banging his head on every doorframe they went through. Severus deposited him on the doorstep and left him there, leaning back against the door for support as he reinforced the wards.  
  
\----  
  
A single owl made its way through the wards the next day, fluttering down to Severus's lab and perching on the rim of his cauldron. It pecked at him until he accepted the parcel, opening it to find the pair of sunglasses that Potter had given him for Christmas.  
  
The owl pecked him again, and Severus touched the corner of the sunglasses, cursing as he was caught up in the vortex of a Portkey. He stumbled as he landed, glaring at the owl that had hopped up to his shoulder.  
  
"You'd better have a good explanation for this," he said.  
  
It hooted, reaching up to stroke his cheek with a soft wing, and then took flight from his shoulder, ducking out through an open window.   
  
Severus glared at the clerk who was stepping out from behind his desk and approaching him. "Mr. Snape?" he asked.  
  
When Severus nodded, he said, "We were told to expect you at this hour. Please, let me show you to your rooms for the potions conference. It doesn't start until this evening, so you'll have plenty of time to get settled."  
  
"What?"   
  
Severus blinked when the man handed him a scroll, and checked it for spells before unrolling it. Harry's loopy, round scrawl said only, _Merry Christmas, love. I'm sorry you couldn't have the fun of anticipating the conference, but I hope that you'll enjoy it anyway. Love, Harry._  
  
"Did Mr. Potter make the arrangements for my room?" Severus asked, rolling the scroll up and slipping it into his pocket.  
  
"Yes, sir. He delivered your luggage himself, and pre-registered you for the conference."  
  
Severus followed him up the broad staircase, finding his room in a quiet corner, with windows overlooking the ocean. "Thank you," he said, and the clerk bowed before leaving.  
  
There was a full set of luggage, waiting for him – all of it new, but matching the things that Severus already owned. There was a bottle of champagne, chilling in a bucket, and a packet of registration information for the Annual Marseille Potions Conference. A note from Harry lay on top of the other papers.  
  
 _Severus, I'm sorry you misunderstood your Christmas present. I never wanted to force you to go on the cruise with me, and I hope that we can talk when you get back. I thought that you'd enjoy this conference as a vacation, but if I've misjudged you, you needn't feel any obligation to stay for it._  
  
\----  
  
Severus knocked on Potter's door, forcing his way through the wards when he was slow to answer.   
  
"You had no business gallivanting about on that cruise or dallying with those women because of a miscommunication between the two of us."  
  
Harry looked up from his tea and toast. "You had no business embarrassing me in front of my surrogate family on Christmas Eve," he said. "Did you enjoy the conference?"  
  
"Yes," Severus said. He unburdened his pockets, resizing the contents for Harry – French chocolates, a golden Snitch etched with a picture of the Eiffel Tower, and several bottles of wine.  
  
He set the sunglasses down last, his fingers lingering on the inactive Portkey.   
  
"It was very instructive," he said. "I have some new directions for the research I've been doing on ..."  
  
Harry stood, hands in his pockets, and leaned over to brush a kiss on Severus's cheekbone. "I reopened the shop while you were gone," he said, "cleared your name with the press and hired an assistant to run things for you. You'll be free to devote all of your time to research, if you want."  
  
Severus quirked an eyebrow at him. "And what is left for me to do, then? Apologize to you on bended knee in front of the Weasleys? Swear to you that I will cut out my own heart before losing you again? Refrain from questioning you about all the indiscretions you committed on that cruise?"  
  
"I didn't sleep with anyone," Harry said, putting both hands on Severus's shoulders, "and there's nothing left for us to do except forgive each other – we've both been stubborn, and blind, and I should have never suggested the bloody cruise to you when I knew you wouldn't want to do something like that."  
  
Severus kissed him, pulling him closer. "Next summer ... no separate vacations for us, Harry. I'll even go on a cruise with you."  
  
"I've missed you." Harry buried his face in Severus's chest, hands coming up to rub angel-wing circles on his back. "Don't do this to me again."  
  
"I can think of things that I'd rather do to you," he said.   
  
"Do they involve making up for all those months of sleeping alone?"  
  
"They certainly do." Severus pressed him back against the table, pushing aside the gifts and half-finished breakfast. The sunglasses fell to the floor with a clatter as he claimed Harry's mouth, kissing away the lonely months spent on separate vacations.


End file.
